


I was mer-made for you

by Karkatsrolledupsleeves



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Friends to Lovers, Mermaid Feferi, stupid title i know just let me be cheesy, they all live in the same apartment building its fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 00:16:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17335082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karkatsrolledupsleeves/pseuds/Karkatsrolledupsleeves
Summary: Nepeta's longtime friendship with Feferi gets alot more interesting when she realizes her roommate grows a tail when put in the shower. Will it take them a while to get used to the varying life of someone part human part mermaid? Yes, but that's the least of Nepeta's worries when she realizes how much she really likes Feferi.





	1. My, what sharp teeth you have!

“Hey Kanaya can you come over? I have a bit of a situation...no its not Karkat again he’s been...no no not Equius either this isn’t a boy problem….just come over here ok? I’m starting to freak out!” Nepeta ended the call and leaned against the wall for support. Looking over at the bathroom, the sound of a shower head dripping sent chills through her. 

Nepeta hadn’t even had time to change out of her soaked clothes before she leapt at her phone to call Kanaya. She’d rather shake in the hallway then go into the bathroom and see...no.

Whoever was in her bathtub was not a human. Whoever that girl was, she wasn’t the girl who had been living here for three weeks, eating sushi and cheese puffs and crying over sappy hallmark movies and blowing bubbles that the neighborhood kids chased after. She wasn’t the girl who she met in eighth grade who still collected Webkinz and sang beside her in chorus, the soprano to her alto.

That girl had a tail. And fins. And gills. Her skin was clammy and hairless and her nails left marks on Nepeta’s smooth tan skin. Nepeta traced the marks with her finger, trying to regulate her breathing. This wasn’t happening. 

Feferi was NOT a mermaid.

“Nepeta? Are you okay?” Kanaya’s soft voice was betrayed by her panicked knocking and jiggling of the door handle. Although she only lived three floors down, Nepeta still jumped with how soon Kanaya had appeared. Like a ghost. Was she a ghost? Made about as much sense Feferi being a mermaid but HERE WE ARE.

“I’m here Kanaya and I’m fine.” Nepeta opened the door and Kanaya’s eyes widened. Nep must have looked like a mess after the thrashing Feferi had given her. Putting a half conscious girl into a shower only lose to your grip when scales formed on the girl’s legs led to a hungover mermaid dragging the both of them down.

“Oh my god you look like a drowned cat!” Kanaya, after her second of shock, sprung into action. She pulled off Nepeta’s drenched sweater and hat and found a towel to wrap around her shoulders. The clack of her heels followed her into the kitchen, where she put a teapot on the stove. You could take the woman out of Britain but you couldn’t take the british out of her. “What happened to you?” Kanaya gasped at the bleeding scratches on Nepeta’s arms.

“You won’t believe me if I tell you.” 

“Oh nonsense what could you have possibly done to hurt yourself like that!” Kanaya froze and slowly turned away, “You didn’t do that on purpose did you?”

“No! No I swear it isn’t like that at all! It’s just that…” A mermaid grabbed onto me to keep her balance when her feet turned into a tail Nepeta’s voice trailed off as she realized how crazy she sounded. A real mermaid. In her bathroom. 

“Its just what?”

Nepeta didn’t respond. She didn’t know how.

“Nepeta?” Kanaya went to reach for her friend’s hand but stopped halfway. The younger girl froze. Did she hear the splashing in the bathroom? Was Feferi calling her? Although the girl in the tub was the exact reason she called Kanaya over, Nepeta suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Kanaya wouldn’t have left Feferi in the bathroom, cold and alone. Even if Nepeta herself had sprouted ears and fur Kanaya would have comforted her. 

She know what she was feeling that turned her mouth sour, but she could guess. Shame. 

Feferi must be so scared. 

But Feferi also could made this so much easier for the both of them if she had just said she was a mermaid! Just mentioned it one of the many times they had hung out over the past 10 years, a small quip during a commercial “Oh hey just thought you should know-- If I touch too much water my whole body turns into some alien-like fish creature! Anyway did you see that new Aquaman movie coming out?” Common courtesy, really! 

“Nepeta, those cuts look really bad. I’ll go get you a band-aid.” While Nepeta was deciding whether she was guilty or justified in trying to trap her best friend in a bathroom, Kanaya walked away from the couch and towards the first aid kit. However, as her friend walked toward the bandages, Nepeta stared down at her hands in confusion. Would she say she had a lot of mosquito bites and went too far scratching them? A plate broke in the sink while washing the dishes? So caught up in her thoughts, Kanaya’s words didn’t register until the hands of the pale women were already pulling back the chair placed under the door she was looking for and turning the knob.

Band-aids. 

BAND-AIDS WERE IN THE BATHROOM.

“Kanaya wait! Don’t go in there!” Nepeta reached over the back of the couch in a futile attempt to stop Kanaya. In the next five seconds, Nep watched as Kanaya opened the door, noticed Feferi, really noticed Feferi, then slammed the door and pushed her entire body on top of it.

“Was that Feferi? WITH A TAIL?”

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me! She was normal this morning but when I helped her into the shower she turned into...into…” Nepeta, knowing full well what--who-- the both of them had seen, couldn’t bring herself to say the word. At least she didn’t feel as bad about leaving Feferi alone anymore. Kanaya hadn’t done so much as say ‘Hello’.

Silence filled the room once again. From behind the door, the sound of running water grew louder as Fef started to fill the bathtub. Kanaya made no move from the door, even though blood was rushing to her head and any light push from behind her would knock her down. Nepeta stayed still as well. She could only imagine the scene her friend was taking in. Beer bottles scattered atop the kitchen counter, a tv muted showing reruns of Friends, and a soaking wet girl staring back at her dressed now only in a tank top and pajama pants from the night before. It painted a picture that reminded all three of the girls in the apartment that the day wasn’t even halfway over. Kanaya herself had only been awake for an hour before picking up the phone. 

“Hello? Kanaya, is that you?” A small voice from behind the door broke the silence and the running water stopped. 

“Yes it’s me. Can I come in?” Although Kanaya was asking for Feferi’s permission to enter, the question was partly to convince herself to let go of the doorknob she had a death grip on and pry herself off the door. It was just Feferi in there. Not a monster, not an alien. The girl from apartment 5C who had moved in only three weeks ago but felt like she had lived here forever. In a room with a bed and not...some underwater sea castle. If that was also a thing.

When there was no answer Kanaya looked to Nepeta. The smaller girl nodded and joined Kanaya at the bathroom door where they slowly poked their heads in like turtles peering out of their shells. 

In the bathtub sat a real mermaid. She had a tail shimmering with pink and gold scales, smooth dark brown skin that sparkled and curled black hair pouring over the sides of the tub and down her chest. Her nails were pointed razor sharp and the connected tips were coal black like cracked rock on an active volcano. On her face, slick fins where her ears should be were adorned with gold earrings and turned vibrant blue the closer to the cheek. Her lips were stained black and magenta freckles dotted her skin, the color a distraction from the pearly whites that looked recently sharpened. On her neck, frilled pink gills.

But the Feferi-part of the creature had remained after the transformation and calmed the shocked girls at the door. Her face still held those warm fuchsia eyes, her hair still speckled with fake gold clips Nepeta had used to try to tame the curls into locs, and Feferi still wore her now soaked band T-shirt from last night to hide what was presumably a scaled chest. As different as the girl looked from her former self, she still looked like Feferi.

Well, if Feferi had been crying for the last half hour. Which was certainly the case.


	2. The bathtub is the best place for a confession

“Okay, tell me the whole story. Nepeta wanted to celebrate after a week at her new job, so you both got ridiculously drunk, Feferi passed out and…?” 

The three girls were now seated in the crowded bathroom, one on a footstool, one on the closed toilet, and one in the tub. Kanaya and Nepeta had apologized profusely after calming Feferi down, still from a distance, and Kan brought in a cup of tea for each of them. After a awkward moment of quick obvious glances at Feferi’s body and a nervous flick of the tail that made the humans jump, the mermaid had calmed down enough to speak. She tried to explain herself but there was alot of ground to cover. Should she start at her birth? Where she came from? How she went from human to fish in seconds? 

Kanaya saved her the trouble, focused only on the events of the past night. 

“I fell asleep after Feferi did. I tried to drink alot of water over the course of the night so I woke up with less of a headache then usual but Fef was a mess this morning. No offense.” 

“None taken.” Feferi shrugged. Alcohol tolerance was not a trait most fish-people had.

“She was moaning and groaning over her head so I got her some Advil and something small to eat. Sometime during the night she must have thrown up bc it was all over her shirt, so I asked her if she wanted to take a shower. She agreed.” Nepeta looked over at Feferi, expecting a comment on her storytelling, but Feferi nodded and Nep continued.

“When we got in the bathroom, Fef took off her shirt and kept on her bra and all that. We’re close enough that I don’t care if she’s, you know, wearing anything, but she wanted to keep those on so I let her. Then I helped her into the shower and she was still dizzy so I held onto her really tightly. Then I turned on the water and she yelped! I thought I burned her so I let go really quick to change the heat and as I was bent over I saw something shiny. Shiny like a coin or something metal, you know? But then I realized that it was Fef’s legs that were shiny! Her whole body! Then she starts grabbing at me to pull herself up and I look over and her legs are growing scales! And fusing together! I was so confused and scared I started to pull back out of the water that was getting all over me, the shower was still on and getting EVERYWHERE, but Fef wouldn’t let go! Then her nails became so sharp and scraped me as she pulled us down and when I saw her face I flipped. I ran out of the bathroom and put a chair under the door and called you. Did I miss anything?” Again Nepeta turned towards Feferi but this time Fef’s face was less one of concentration and more one of regret. She absentmindedly rubbed her scales. 

“No, that's pretty much what happened. When my body gets too wet it reacts by forming a tail and giving me gills so I can swim and breathe underwater if I need to. When I woke up today, I was so hungover and not even thinking that I let you cover me in water. I didn’t even realize what the effect of a shower, besides getting me clean, would be until I felt the water on my skin. I wasn’t burned at all. I woke up so fast I gasped and when my legs started to connect I couldn’t hold myself up anymore. I tried to explain what was happening but you ran out so quickly I couldn’t. I can’t even get out of this tub in this condition.” Feferi sunk deeper into the water. Kanaya was starting to piece the story together, but still had many questions to ask. After all, Feferi had been living with Nepeta for weeks, known her for years. Every time she took a shower, she would have turned into a mermaid, then turned back into a human in enough time to keep her roommate from getting suspicious. 

Even the rain would be a problem if the girl was caught without an umbrella! 

“Oh god Fef I’m so sorry I freaked out like that. It’s just…this…” Nepeta gestured to Fef’s tail, “...is alot to take in at 10 am.”

“I know and I should have told you sooner, trust me I get that. I was just, so scared. You could have kicked me out, you could have quarantined me, I could have been sent to a lab like some kind of disease ridden freak!”

“I’m sure Nepeta would never treat you like that.”

“And I know that! Kanaya, I have known Nepeta for years now! Practically a decade! She is one of the sweetest, most caring people I know yet just moving in with her was terrifying. Not because of who Nepeta is, but because of who she could be. My neighbor, when I was in high school, was kicked out of her home for kissing a girl! I kiss girls and CAN BREATHE UNDERWATER. Parents who raised children from diapers can toss them aside like they were never born, imagine what a human would do to me after finding out I was some kind of slimy disgusting creature! I couldn’t risk it and convinced myself I could hide this forever. Dry myself off with a hair dryer to bring back my legs, pretend to have a cold when the weather was cloudy and forget about the beach! I have lied to so many people to keep my secret safe and I know neither of you deserve that but I had no choice.” Fef took a deep breath to stop the shaking but her fear curdled her words and her voice hitched with each gulp. “I know I look scary I know I’m dangerous I mean look at your arm! My teeth are sharp enough to tear fish in two, I genuinely cannot control this...shapeshifting. My kind was never meant to live on land for so long and its because we hurt every human we meet. I even hurt you. Maybe not alot physically, but I’m sure mentally.” 

“Hey, hey, don’t say that! None of that is true.” Nepeta took one of Feferi’s hands, careful of her nails. “You are not slimy or disgusting or disease ridden. You’re my friend. Is this something we will both have to get used to? Yeah. And I assure you it will be alot at first and Kanaya is always a minute away if we need her but I’m not going to push you away because you are...like this…. I promise. I mean, I didn’t kick you out after I found out you hate tuna--”

“Thousands of fish in the ocean and humans pick the one that tastes like socks.”

“And I will always pretend you never said that but the point is you’re staying here with me. Fins and all.” Nepeta smiled and brought Fef in close for a hug that was meant to be satisfying but ended up being a little uncomfortable as the edge of the tub dug into her ribs. “Besides, leaving you in here alone? I should be apologizing to you, again.”

“I still feel really bad about this though. Also a little cramped. Can you get me the hair dryer so I can have my legs back?” 

“Sure.” Nepeta left the room to go get the hair dryer and left Kanaya and Feferi alone together. Keeping her eyes on the door, Kan adjusted her skirt and began to stand up. 

“Wait Kanaya.” Feferi leaned forward, gently wrapping her hand around a pale arm. “I need to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“I know I’ve known you for a lot less time then I have known Nep but I need another opinion. If... your friend hid something from you for almost ten years and you found out by accident, not even by a conversation, would you be mad?”

“Is this hypothetical or is this about you and--”

“Hypothetical.” Feferi answered a bit too quickly but Kanaya ignored it. “Really.”

“Well I think I wouldn’t be thrilled, after all if this was a good friend of mine I would expect that she would have trusted me enough years ago. But I also know that sometimes people have their reasons for hiding truths about themselves and its not up to me to decide when to reveal something.” Kanaya paused then, and took a moment to choose her next words. “In the end if we were really friends we could only grow from the experience and I would be grateful that my friend cared about me so much she wouldn’t want to lose my friendship. Not that it makes hiding something necessary, but just the fact that Nepe-- I stuck around with my friend for so long should only reaffirm that I was very dedicated to the friendship. Does that answer your question?” 

“I’ve got the hairdryer! Just flip the little switch on the faucet to drain the water and you should be back on your feet in no time!” Nepeta burst back into the room and held out the dryer to Feferi, who immediately plugged it in and got to work. While Nepeta helped dry her hair, Feferi thought about Kanaya’s answer. It made sense. Sort of.

When Feferi’s fins had receded back into her face and her legs were steady enough to stand on, Nepeta and Kanaya helped her out of the bathtub and into the kitchen, where it was still early enough to eat breakfast. When the dishes were scraped clean and the tea cups perched on top of the overfilled sink, Kanaya returned to her apartment and left the other two girls at the table together.

“So…”

“So.” Feferi tapped her regular-length nails on the table, fixing her eyes on every other thing in this room other than Nepeta’s face. She could feel olive eyes watching her, marveling at her once again freckle-less skin and blunt teeth. “Today has been something.” 

“Its only the morning. We still have plenty of daylight to decide what today is going to be. I was thinking, maybe to try to take our mind off of things, we start with watching that new Aquaman movie?” Nepeta held her breath. Across the table, Feferi’s worried lip-biting turned into a relieved grin.

“Sure.”

**Author's Note:**

> If this reminds you alot of the Tom Hanks movie Splash thats because this is loosely based off of that but I also haven't seen the movie in years so really the only thing I took was the touch-water-turn-into-mermaid thing. So yeah.


End file.
